A Madrid court will hear two scions of the late Francoist elite next Tuesday. Prosecutors have accused José Luis Cottoner Martos, a Spanish nobleman and Marquis of Belgium, of forging a residence in Luxembourg between 2010 and 2013 to defraud the state treasury of 2.95 million euros. Along with him, his tax advisor Joaquin Arespacochaga is accused as a necessary cooperator. Cottoner is the son of Nicolas Cottoner y Cottoner, who was King Juan Carlos I’s tutor and head of the royal household. Arespacochaga is the son of the last Francoist mayor of Madrid (1976-1978). Now the chair brings them together after more than 40 years.
Although the Cottoners belong to a select club of rich people who successfully avoid the press, experts on the aristocracy know the family well. Nicolás Cotoner y Cotoner, Marquis of Mondejar, was King Juan Carlos’ mentor for decades and head of the royal household from 1975-1990. In addition to the Marquisate, he held the titles of Belgid, Arrian, and Count of Tendila. that of La Gomera. The family runs a sprawling real estate empire that includes everything from a hotel in Murcia to large bags of land in Madrid. When David Beckham played for Real Madrid, he considered living in the family’s estate, which includes four mansions.
But, according to Madrid’s Economic Crimes Prosecutor’s Office, one of the sons of the Marquis of Mondear, José Luis, took advantage of the financial architecture to avoid paying taxes. With the intention of obtaining an illegal tax benefit, he failed to submit the relevant Personal Income Tax (IRPF) returns for the years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, despite having permanently resided in the Spanish territory where the core was located. His economic interests were located as well as his most important economic and personal relationships, claiming to be a resident of Luxembourg during the above-mentioned years and stating that he lived until July 2010 at an address in Rue de Bragance. on a date, in a property on Monterey Avenue, when he had not really left the territory of Spain,” the public ministry said in an indictment published on Friday.
Prosecutors accuse him of embezzling 2.954 million euros from the coffers of eight different companies that manage his real estate. The Public Ministry believes he committed four tax offenses (one each in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013), for which he is seeking a seven-year prison sentence plus a fine.
Cottoner won’t be the only one on the bench. The prosecution also accuses his tax adviser, Joaquin Arespacochaga, “who took the appropriate measures to officially obtain Luxembourg documents that would allow him to pretend that he was not a Spanish tax resident” and for which he is asking for 12 years in prison and 6.4. million fine.
If Cotoner is a classic of heraldry pages, Arespacochaga is summaries of financial plots. A Treasury inspector on leave and a poet, his name appears in the Competitive Bay case to reindustrialize Cadiz into an oil company in South Sudan with an Iranian and also accused of tax crimes, Farshad Zand.
In tax crimes, plea bargains are possible before trial, so a plea bargain allows defendants to try to negotiate a non-custodial sentence if they pay the defrauded amount and fines. This is what most defendants usually look for. However, there are those who, like Shakira or Xabi Alonso, go to the end of the procedure.
Millionaires who say they live outside of Spain often present a certificate from the country where they are registered, although the tax agency usually reviews all kinds of invoices, current expenses and evidence to prove that they have lived in Spain for more than 183 days. year. The Supreme Court upheld the appeal to rule on the validity of these tax residency certificates from another country, arguing that no taxes have been paid in Spain.
Source: El Diario
